Vodka and Ouzo

I fished last Sunday. Expecting one thing only
to come up with another.

For example, Gabe was supposed to meet me
at 6am. With one-too-many drinks still inside him
from the night before, he's a no-show. But, I
see old kayaking buddies on the beach. Brian and Vitale.

Since Brian caught a nice YT a couple of days prior, he high
tails it without much chit chat. Leaving me with Vitale.

I met Vitale almost 10yrs ago. Back then, he was a tourist
bugging me at the launch. With his thick Russian accent,
he asked the typical questions. But, little did I know, with
a little push from me, he turns into a full-on kayak fishing foul,
just like the rest of us.

Thru the years, I ran into Vitale from time-to-time. I never really got
to know him. Until Sunday. Sunday's fishing was snotty due to SWesterly windy weather.
But that didn't deter the non-stop conversations between us.

What do expect when you put a Russian and Greek together hungry for fish?

Vitale is a Mechanical Engineering Professor at UCSD who mostly catches fish thru trail and error.
I'm a chemical engineer, who catches fish mainly thru error.

In the end, we realized what we have in common:

We see fish as Free Swimming Meals.
Our jobs, to engineer them back home to our tables.


Vitale's sport before fishing? Roman-Greko Wrestling.


When the Yellowtail are laughing at you fighting the wind, there might be a halibut down below. I somehow managed to fish a spot, in the wind, without a hobie. Imagine that?? (Adi, you like the belly shot?)

Then, comes the time to EAT.

Some garden vegies...


Some halibut fillets with cut strips of halibut skin...


And pressto-chango, Braised Halibut and Zucchini on top of gralic mashed potatoes/roasted red peppers, top off with fried halibut skins...



And, the Vodka and Ouzo?? Sorry, the bottles were emptied while the fish were still fishin'.